15 Duets

In 1824, Schott in Mainz published a trumpet method by C. Eugène Roy. The original includes these duets in an antiquated mixed pitch configuration: the first voice for a high E flat trumpet, the second being in Bb. These have been transposed here for modern instruments in either C or Bb. Roy, a military musician and flageolet (similar to recorder) virtuoso, has published many instrumental methods and arrangements of well-known melodies of the time: his trumpet method addresses both natural and keyed trumpet playing. Depending on the respective publisher, these can be either keyed trumpets or keyed bugles (see illustration). The 15 duets of this book were presumably written for the keyed bugle, since in France at the time, such instruments were pitched in Eb et Bb, exactly the two pitches Roy used in these duets.